Individuality In Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go

As you read Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go, you must infer some parts of the novel as the narrator leaves out crucial information. Both the characters and the readers are withheld from, crucial information that greatly affects the events in the novel that shape who the characters are. The purpose for the author and the guardians to withhold information from the reader and the characters is to mask the true identities of the characters in the novel, to establish a sense of individuality within the characters, and to explore the idea of a conformist society. The effect of this is to comment on how individuals in society aren’t really individuals because we all come from the same roots and are influenced by the same things, the author does this …show more content…
The guardians at hailsham withhold information from the kids about their true identities to allow the kids a life that seems to be normal. The purpose for Ishiguro withholding this information from the readers was to develop the characters without prior knowledge of background so to make assumptions about identity. Masking the character 's true identity comments on how each individual is not truly their own person if they are influenced by the same things as others in society, such as a simple act like shoulder touching, “Something Ruth, for all her close study of them, failed to spot- and this was how so many of their mannerisms were copied from the television”(Ishiguro 120). The use of the words “was” and “were” in this quote help to explain to the reader that Ruth refused to be her own person in the cottages, she always wanted to be like and do the same things as the veterans. While at hailsham, Ruth became so accustomed to following what people did and said, that she had no distinct identity trait. Copying the veterans filled the void of Ruth that was her identity what they did she did, and that’s who she was. Masking of Ruth’s identity lead to her being an exact replica of everyone around her while masking the true identity of someone like Tommy’s turned him into a stand alone, that couldn’t do anything like the others. “If Tommy had genuinely tried, she was saying, but he just couldn 't be very creative, then that was quite all right, he wasn 't to worry about it” (Ishiguro.27).Again in this quote you see the use of the word “was” which helps to tell the reader that Masking Tomy’s identity made him stand out from the others at Hailsham he couldn’t be apart of the current crowd he had fallen behind them, he was the odd man of the bunch of kids. If Ishiguro were to go into the details of the identities of all of the characters he would pose a position for the